#IndonesianGP – MOTOGP, SPRINT & RACE – Difficult weekend for Bastianini
MOTOGP – SPRINT: Bezzecchi beats Aldeguer on final lap in Mandalika Sprint
Marco Bezzecchi vs Fermin Aldeguer. Aprilia Racing’s Italian vs BK8 Gresini Racing’s rookie, and boy was it a Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia Tissot Sprint treat that we’ll remember for a long time. It was Bezzecchi who completed an incredible comeback after a poor start to overtake the Ducati rider on the final lap for the gold medal, as Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) took P3 from the front row to earn his first rostrum in MotoGP.
Poor start from Bez, Marc Marquez handed Long Lap penalty
From the off, Bezzecchi didn’t get a good launch from pole as Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) briefly led from P6, but the Italian was wide to allow Aldeguer and Fernandez through, as well as Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
Turn 10 on the opening lap saw Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) make contact, which saw both run wide, with the Yamaha star coming out the worse of the two. It was an incident that saw the World Champion handed a Long Lap penalty, which he took on Lap 3, and that dropped him to P13.
Aldeguer leads, Acosta crashes from P2
At the front, Aldeguer was leading by half a second from Acosta, with Fernandez still third ahead of Marini and Bezzecchi. As we watched Bezzecchi attempt a pass at Turn 1 on Marini, we then cut to Acosta in the gravel at the same corner. The KTM star was down and out of P2 which handed Aldeguer a 1.8s lead, with Bezzecchi now chasing Fernandez for P2.
Aldeguer vs Bezzecchi unfolds
As soon as he got a bit of clean air, Bezzecchi set the fastest lap of the Sprint. With eight laps left, the Italian was just over two seconds away from the leader. Aldeguer’s best friend in this Sprint was second place Fernandez and on Lap 8 of 13, Bezzecchi was swarming all over the rear tyre of the Trackhouse rider.
A pass for P2 came at Turn 10 on Lap 8 and at this stage, the gap between Aldeguer and Bezzecchi sat at 1.9s. A lap later it was 1.2s because Bezzecchi slammed in a 1:29.638 – a new fastest lap of the Sprint, and that compared to Aldeguer’s 1:30.379. This was some sensational pace from the polesitter and after a very sluggish start that saw him drop to P8, the #72 was well in the victory hunt.
With two laps to go, the gap was down to 0.5s as Bezzecchi took another four tenths off of Aldeguer’s lead and at the start of the last lap, it was 0.3s. Then, it was nothing.
Turn 10 was the place again for Bezzecchi and he got the job done despite being slightly wide. He picked up Aldeguer but the rookie wasn’t giving this up without a fight. It was close through Turn 12, but Bezzecchi had the advantage and he managed to hold it to the line. A stunning comeback from Bezzecchi to catch and pass Aldeguer on the last lap as the pair treat us to a brilliant Saturday Sprint in Mandalika, as Fernandez held onto his first Sprint podium in P3.
Your Saturday points scorers
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crossed the line in a fairly lonely P4 to strengthen his grip on P2 in the overall championship, with Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) completing the top five. Marini dropped to P6 in the end but after a post-race eight-second tyre pressure penalty, the Italian dropped out of the points. That meant Marc Marquez finished the Sprint in P6 after he cut his way back through some of the pack after his Long Lap penalty.
P7 and P8 went to Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team duo Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) was promoted from P10 to P9 and the final point after Marini’s penalty.
Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), last weekend’s Sprint and Grand Prix winner, finished 29s off the win in P14 to see Bezzecchi close in on P3 overall. Ducati Lenovo Team’s disappointing Saturday didn’t stop them from clinching the Teams’ Championship, though.
MOTOGP – RACE: Aldeguer takes stunning maiden Mandalika win
How about that for a way to win your first MotoGP Grand Prix? Take a bow, Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). The rookie becomes the second-youngest MotoGP winner after clinching an utterly dominant victory in a dramatic Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia that saw Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) collide and crash on Lap 1. In a fascinating fight for second and third, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) collected P2 ahead of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) in an unmissable MotoGP encounter in Mandalika.
Immediate drama as Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez crash
Just like he did in the Sprint, and once again, it wasn’t a good start from Bezzecchi from pole as Acosta earned the holeshot. Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) made a cracking start from P6 and was an early second as huge drama unfolded at Turn 6.
Bezzecchi was behind Marc Marquez and went for a gap that didn’t really exist at the furiously fast right-hander. Contact was made, Bezzecchi hitting Marc Marquez’s Ducati, and both went down in a big way. The pre-race favourite and the World Champion were out of the Grand Prix after six corners, with both thankfully able to walk away.
However, Marc Marquez did suffer an injury to his right collarbone in the crash, meaning the #93 will fly back to Europe for further checks to see if surgery will be needed. In addition, post-race, Aprilia Racing confirmed that Bezzecchi was taken to the local hospital for further examinations.
Acosta leads before Aldeguer pulls the pin
Back on track, another podium contender then crashed on Lap 2, as Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) went down at Turn 16 to end his positive weekend prematurely. So, where did that leave us? Acosta led from Aldeguer and Marini, with Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) a close P4. Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was in P5 ahead of his teammate Fabio Quartararo.
On Lap 7, Aldeguer hit the front for the first time. Turn 10 was the passing place; a classic up the inside move was done, but Acosta retaliated at Turn 1 on the next lap. But the #37 was wide, allowing Aldeguer back through, and a fastest lap of the Grand Prix was landed by the rookie to stretch his lead to 0.509s over the line.
While lapping in P16, Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) disappointing weekend ended with a Turn 17 crash, in what quickly turned into a Grand Prix to forget for the newly crowned Teams’ World Champions.
At the front, Aldeguer had checked out. On Lap 11, the rookie’s lead was 2.5s, as Marini began to climb all over the tailpipes of Acosta. Fernandez was right there too, and if anyone had hopes of winning this contest, getting past Acosta as soon as possible was key.
An incredible podium fight unfolds
But we were witnessing superiority from Aldeguer here. The #54 was lapping a good half a second and the rest faster than anyone else on track, and with Marini and Acosta engaging in battle, that lead grew to 4.3s at the start of Lap 13. And all this was bringing Rins, Alex Marquez, Quartararo, and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) into the podium picture.
Lap 14 saw Fernandez and Marini scrap it out through Turn 16 and Turn 17, and as contact was made going into the final corner, Rins said, ‘Thank you very much’, and moved into P3. Alex Marquez cruised through as well and suddenly, Fernandez and Marini were P5 and P8.
At this stage, Aldeguer was 6.5s up the road. The win, if no mistakes were made and his tyres didn’t fall off a cliff, was his. But this fight for the final two rostrum spots was superb. P2 down to Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P12 was just over three seconds.
Acosta was digging deep in P2. His personal best lap of the Grand Prix came on Lap 17, a 1:31.107, and it was enough at this stage to keep Rins and the rest at arm’s length. That safety net didn’t last though. Rins was through on Lap 20, and now it was Alex Marquez who began to hound the KTM.
And a move from the #73 arrived on Lap 22 at Turn 10 to shove Acosta out of the podium places for the first time. Then, Marquez powered past Rins into Turn 1 to make it a Gresini 1-2 in Indonesia as Rins began to really struggle on that soft rear tyre. Fernandez and Binder were through, Acosta was back into P3, with Binder – from P15 on the grid – fending off Fernandez to see the South African sit in P4 behind teammate Acosta.
With three laps to go, Acosta was back into P2 at Turn 10 to return the favour on Alex Marquez, as a 0.9s gap opened up behind the battle for P2 and P3 to Binder.
Starting the final lap in a different postcode to the field, Aldeguer just had to cruise home to a dream debut MotoGP victory. 8.6s was the gap, and it looked like Acosta had P2 in the bag too as Alex Marquez dropped to 0.9s back.
And of course, Aldeguer made no mistakes. What a ride. What a win. Aldeguer adds his name to that illustrious MotoGP winners’ list, and he’s also the second youngest to ever do it after the famous #93. Acosta did hold onto a very, very hard-fought P2, with Alex Marquez strengthening his grip on second in the championship with a P3 in Indonesia.
Your Indonesian GP points scorers
Fair play to Binder. That was some effort to bring his RC16 home in a season-best P4, with Marini battling his way back to P5. Fernandez backed up his Sprint podium with a solid P6 in the Grand Prix, with Quartararo the lead Yamaha rider in seventh. Eighth went to Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), P9 was his teammate Di Giannantonio, with Rins’ charge ending with a P10 – but how good was it to see the #42 back in the rostrum scrap?
Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) was 11th across the line ahead of Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR), and Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) – the Australian crossing the line in P14 after he crashed out of the top 10 group in the closing stages.
A tough weekend for me. Yesterday the guys worked a lot to give me the best bike for today but in the end something happened. It’s OK. I wasn’t able to do a fantastic race today. We have to work and understand in the future to do something more. We were competitive in fast corners and I was quicker in sector two as well. We now know what we can do on the bike to compete.
Enea Bastianini – NC
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